NEW YORK, NY.- The Estate of Robert De Niro Sr. announced the creation of The Robert De Niro, Sr. Prize, which will honor an outstanding mid-career American artist with an annual award of $25,000 for achievements in painting. The announcement was made this evening by Robert De Niro, Tribeca Film Institute Board Co-Chair, along with Megan Fox Kelly and Jeffrey Hoffeld, advisors to the estate, at a reception held at De Niro’s father’s studio in New York City.

The Robert De Niro, Sr. Prize, which will be administered by the Tribeca Film Institute, has been established to recognize an American artist whose work over a considerable period of time has made a significant contribution to the field of painting. The prize honors the career and legacy of accomplished painter De Niro, Sr. A selection committee of distinguished individuals in the art world will be appointed annually to nominate and select three finalists and the prize recipient. The estate of the late artist will host a group exhibition for the finalists where the winner will be announced. The prize, which is among the first to celebrate and shine a light on mid-career artists, will be funded by Robert De Niro. The first prize will be awarded in 2011.

“I am proud to honor my father as an artist and pay tribute to his painting through the Robert De Niro, Sr. Prize,” said Robert De Niro. “By annually awarding an American artist who is recognized for exceptional quality in painting, we hope to support artists, like my father, who are making a lifelong commitment to their art.”

The merit-based Robert De Niro, Sr. Prize will afford mid-career artists renewed attention from the art world.

“Several important prizes in the fine arts celebrate the work of young and emerging artists today. The Robert De Niro, Sr. prize is unique in that it focuses attention on those artists whose work has consistently shown their commitment to quality and innovation in painting,” said Megan Fox Kelly.

De Niro, Sr. was part of the celebrated New York School of post-war American artists. His work blended abstract and expressionist styles of painting with traditional representational subject matter, bridging the divide between European Modernism and Abstract Expressionism. He studied at the renowned Black Mountain College with Josef Albers, and later with Hans Hofmann in Provincetown and New York, going on to exhibit at Peggy Guggenheim’s renowned Art of this Century gallery in 1945 and 1946, as well as at galleries throughout the U.S. during his career. In 2010, a retrospective exhibition of his work was presented at the Musee Matisse in Nice, France. De Niro, Sr.’s work is found in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Hirshhorn Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Parrish Art Museum, among others. The Estate of Robert De Niro, Sr. is represented by DC Moore Gallery, New York, and is advised by Megan Fox Kelly and Jeffrey Hoffeld.

The Robert De Niro, Sr. Prize selection committee will be announced in the coming months.